Putin offers to release record of Trump meeting with Lavrov

Defiant Trump says he had 'right' to share information with Russia

Manuel Armenta
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20 May, 2017, 10:15

"Regrettably, the timePresident Trump spent sharing sensitive information with the Russians was time he did not spend focusing on Russia's aggressive behavior". Trump said in a pair of tweets Tuesday he had the "absolute right" to share "facts" with the Russians. U.S media have also reported that Trump's alleged intelligence leak has endangered the life of an Israeli spy inside ISIS. The Intelligence was reportedly regarding the Islamic State and a threat involving laptops on airplanes. However, because the president has broad authority to declassify information, it is unlikely that his disclosures to the Russians were illegal - as they would have been had just about anyone else in government shared the same secrets.

In two tweets on Tuesday, Trump confirmed he had spoken to the Russian officials about terrorism and airline flight safety, but he did not confirm or deny whether the information was classified.

Trump went on to tweet that, as president, he had the "absolute right" to declassify and share any such information related to terrorism with Russian Federation.

In January, an Israeli newspaper reported that American intelligence officials warned their Israeli counterparts not to share sensitive information with the Trump administration because of the threat that it could be leaked to Russian Federation.

The Washington Post said the disclosure put a source of intelligence on the Islamic State at risk. But when asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether Trump revealed the city in which a USA ally detected an ISIS plot, McMaster replied that what Trump discussed with the Russians about the Islamic State "was nothing you would not know from open-source reporting".

The White House message on this story is that the controversy is overblown.

Trump later was informed that he had broken protocol and White House officials placed calls to the National Security Agency and the CIA looking to minimize any damage.

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the reports "deeply disturbing" and said they could affect the willingness of USA allies and partners to share intelligence with the U.S.

In a statement, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said the partnership between the U.S and Israel was solid. "He wasn't briefed on the method or source of information".

Gallagher was also among Republicans who openly questioned the firing of FBI Director James Comey last week and called for continuing Congressional investigations into possible ties between Russian interference in the presidential election and the president's campaign.

"Amazing that Trump does not seem to grasp the seriousness of his actions, especially when dealing with sensitive national security information", Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Black Earth, posted on Facebook. She was the first foreign leader to meet him in the White House following his inauguration in January. AP writer Paisley Dodds contributed from London.